[Charlotte]

The escalating rate of kids involved in gang activity, violence + even murder is alarming.

Also, much of the music today is centred around anger + violence.

It's all very disturbing

Why are kids of today so angry?

[john crossley]

I dont think they are, I think it is the way news is broadcast. Today everything is instant, ie, internet, live TV, etc. Plus the media seem to sensationalize everything.
A few years ago Local news was kept local, today its spread across the world.

As for the music, every generation goes through that - their elders not liking it.

[Charlotte]

With all due respect John, I don't think we can deny that kids are angry. Ok not all kids, but a lot of kids. Saw a documentary recently giving facts + figures which were quite shocking. Sadly I didn't note the statistics to quote here. I don't think this one can be put down to media sensation

[silkstone]

At the risk of being A Grumpy Old Man, I'd say that kids are inherently insecure and that they want to be part of something which offers protection. In many cases these days the family structure is not as strong as it used to be, so instead of playing Scrabble or going for walks with Mum and Dad, kids join gangs as a family substitute. Unfortunately their peers offer little of the moral guidance that should come from parents, so you get the Lord of the Flies.

Having said that, it's easy to exaggerate the scale of the problem which is far from universal - the vast majority of children and teenagers do not go around mugging/stabbing/shooting people. It is also nothing new, although the knuckle-dusters of the 1950's Teddy Boys have been replaced by knives and guns. The Victorians had a similar problem with 'feral youths', and they invented the Borstal system which proved highly effective although would undoubtedly be politically unacceptable today.

[Summerleft]

Sunny delight, mcdonalds an PC/console games, for the latter adrenalin builds up but it has no where to go , for instance your brain is rushing through some underground hell hole trying to murder zombies but your bodies sitting there doing nothing, then it comes out in all sorts of ways.

[Whipspeed]

Not enough parental input or dicipline or just plain old fashioned interest in your child and what they think and feel, parents need to have conversations with their children and their friends. I know of several friends who my lad could talk to if he couldn't speak to me and likewise, I've been asked by a friend to help with her lad who was going through a rough patch and wouldn't speak to her, he did speak to me and we sorted it out over a mug of coffee and now he can talk to his mum again. Lack dicipline in school etc. Also agree with Summer, too much sugar & beat em up games. Also look at cinema, the type of films there are nowadays, all the so called torture porn that seems to be mainstream now, ie Saw movies etc, which seem to immune them to the fact that violence causes pain and grief.
I'm very lucky, my son is a great kid, 17 and no problems. I'm lucky, he has been to a very good school and is involved in the rugby squad, which is a great way of getting rid of any agression, he is also out there doing his Duke of Edinburgh award and has also been in the school cadet force. He does play on his games machine, but I've been very careful as he grows up to only get age suitable games, although he does have the 18's now, he is capable of knowing what is right and wrong.
He has a great group of friends, boys and girls who seem to be a real mutual support to each other, they really talk things through.
There is alot of media coverage for the bad apples and I don't think the problem is as bad as it seems, but something does need to be done to stop things like the murder so recently in the press.

[WOODY]

BASICALLY THERE IS NO DETERRENT, THERE ARE NO APPROVED SCHOOLS OR BORSTALS ANY MORE. PARENTS ARE NOT ALLOWED TO SMACK THEIR KIDS IF THEY
TRY TO HAVE ANY CONTROL OVER THEIR KIDS, THE KIDS RUN TO SOCIAL SERVICES
AND SAY THEY ARE BEING ABUSED.

YEARS AGO THE LOCAL COPPER COULD GIVE THEM A SMACK ROUND THE EAR, THEN
TAKE THEM HOME WHERE NINE TIMES OUT OF TEN THEY WOULD GET ANOTHER ONE.

I THINK ONE OF THE WORST THING THE GOVERNMENT STOPPED WAS NATIONAL SERVICE, I THINK THIS SHOULD BE BROUGHT BACK. IT WOULD BE THE IDEAL THING
FOR THE ONES WHO THINK IT IS BRAVE TO STAB OR SHOOT SOMEONE, THEY WOULD HAVE EVERY OPPORTUNITY IN IRAQ OR AFGANISTAN , THIS WOULD SORT THE MEN OUT FROM THE BOYS, THEY WOULD THEN SEE THEY ARE NOT AS TOUGH AS THEY THOUGHT.

I HAD SIX YEARS IN THE PARACHUTE REGIMENT, THEY WERE SIX OF THE BEST YEARS OF MY LIFE, DEFINITELY DID NOT DO ME ANY HARM,IT MADE ME A BETTER PERSON.

RIGHT OFF OF SOAP BOX NOW.

[_MB_]

I've had a few run ins with kids smashing windows at my lab and the like - I even had my 300mm f2.8 at the time so got a sequence of one kid firing a catapult at a window. Gave the police the photo of his mug, the broken glass, the ball bearings and he got an £80 fine, none of which came to us to pay the glazier.

Down to boredom and ********ishness as opposed to anger imo.

[fionaB]

I dont think kids are angry, I think they are allowed to rule the roost and have no sense of respect, or discipline instilled into them until its way too late.
Discipline should start at birth, NOT be ignored until school age and then passed to the teachers to try to instill, which is why they have no control over the children, because many children have no idea what discipline is........ the vast majority of parents nowdays dont spend quality time with their kids....... its easier to pop them infront of a tv or games console and tell them "yes" to everything than it is to take them inhand and teach them some respect.
I was balled out by someone at work the other day when i said that my son gets his games and tv time limited to 2 hours on school nights............ anyone would think i lock him up in a cupboard overnight the way the reactions went, and im talking aboutt he majority of people that i work with not just one or two.

An example of no respect............. a fortnight ago i was going down to the road end to wait for my lift to darts, had just lit up a cigarette and two wee boys came up to me, one of about 12 ish and the other about 9......... bear in mind it was pitch black outside....... anyway they came up and said........" scuse me hen have u got a spare cigarette"
I looked the boy up and down and replied " I certainly do not"
He said " Oh, Its's not for me its for my mate."
I said " When your mate is old enough to smoke tell him to ask me again"
The boy replied......." Your a f*!king bitch!"
I was absollutely gobsmacked and what i did next in this day and age i really shouldnt have....... but i grabbed him by the collar and yank him up close to my face and said ......." and dont you ever forget it pal cos I know your face now"

I would have been WAY too scared to do that to anyone older than me when i was that age.. and just the thought of what my dad would have done had i been stupid enough to say it to someone and then get caught was MORE than enough deterrant.

There is too much put on "dont hit your child" " allow them to express themseves" etc, that people are forgetting that children NEED rules, they NEED discipline and the NEED punishment!

I have to disagree when its said that its not as bad as it seems....... ok its not , its much MUCH worse! But its down to the parents, until your child is of age then you are responsible for them. so why dont the government MAKE them responsible, they dont. so the parents think they have done nothing wrong and continue doing it all wrong!
You can blame kids once they are at certain age, but when u get 5 year old running up the street yelling you to " watch where you are f*!cking going" when THEY ride their bike at you, who do you blame then? the one sourse of education they have had all their lives, yep their parents of course.

ok now you can probably see thats one of my soap box topics so i will get off it for now.

Fi

[_MB_]

Originally Posted by fionaB

The boy replied......." Your a f*!king bitch!"
I was absollutely gobsmacked and what i did next in this day and age i really shouldnt have....... but i grabbed him by the collar and yank him up close to my face and said ......." and dont you ever forget it pal cos I know your face now"

Awesome, I'd never think that fast

[j sotelo]

when I talk to my grandmother about things like this I always come to the same conclusion.
In the old days families were more knit together, they would do everything together, now in most homes both parents work leaving the kids alone for long periods of time, and as we know kids subconsciously like to be diciplined, and if we dont do that,
well we all see the results.
So basicly its just that families are more stressed, more thorn apart due to costs of living, and it is costing, look at the kids now.

[stupot]

I think its a combination of a lot of things, the family unit isn't as close as it used to be with longer working hours for parents, lack of discipline, i certainly remember getting a clout around the ear from my parents if i was rude to them or even to someone else. My dad told me that if he was naughty whilst at school or outside of school and received a clip around the ear from the teacher or local bobby if he went home and told his parents he'd receive another one because he obviously deserved it. Now we all know what would happen if a kid came home and told his parents he'd receive a clipped ear!!

Maybe even the fact that society is becoming increasingly secular might have a bearing on it, not really religious myself but years ago people had some sort of moral code to follow and which was something that was instilled in kids at a young age, nothing really like that now.

I do believe that society isn't as bad as get reported though I've lived and worked in many areas in this country, some of which are damn right scummy but never really had too much to worry about been the victim of crime a couple of times but nothing really to indicate the problem is as bad as it is. Of course documentaries will tell you different and in some parts of the country the problem probably is a lot worse than others but the producers of a documentary are always going to paint the picture they want the audience to see and present the statistics in a way that supposedly backs up their message. I always take these 'cutting edge sensationalist' documentaries with a pinch of salt.

One thing that does alarm me is the senselessness of some of the violent crime today, take the feral youth's of Victorian times for them it was about survival, the mugging, pickpocketing and stealing was their way of surviving, now there's really no rhyme or reason for some of the violent crime today, take the young 14 year girl stabbed numerous times recently and for what? she wasn't mugged, police could find no motive. Luckily she survived and they have caught someone but still makes you wonder why!

Who knows what the answer is maybe more discipline and better deterrents is the way forward.

[fionaB]

yeah bring back the belt, borstals and REAL community police men who knew all the bad uns and where to find their parents!

Fi